FamilySearch has announced a major upgrade of its FamilySearch Beta site. Its usefulness has already outpaced FamilySearch's familiar Pilot Record Search site. New features, including the following, make the beta site easier to use and nudge it closer to replacing FamilySearch. org:

- New records, including all those found at the Pilot Record Search site and more, for 450-plus collections.

- Alphabetized browsing (click All Collections on the FamilySearch Beta home page to access it) so you can quickly find the collections youâ€™re looking for. In most cases, the collection title begins with the name of the state or country where the records were created.

- If youâ€™re interested in only collections with record images, you can click All Collections, then check a box at the bottom left to see only titles of collection with images.

- You can type apostrophes into the search fields to find names such as Oâ€™Hara.

- You can filter your search results by collection category.

- When viewing a record, you can click to see the previous or next record image in the collection.

- Census results now list all household members with their genders and ages.

- If youâ€™re searching Trees (a link on the FamilySearch Beta home page), where the information from FamilySearchâ€™s Ancestral File is, you can find people by event yearâ€”that is, the year of birth, death or marriage.

- For easier navigation and viewing of the site, youâ€™ll find new labels in the header and footer, enhanced color contrast, and visited links that change colors once youâ€™ve already clicked them.